await

American  

[uh-weyt] / əˈweɪt /

verb (used with object)

• awaits,
  present (3rd person singular)
• awaited,
  past participle,  past
• awaiting
  present participle

1. to wait for; expect; look for.

   He is still awaiting an answer.

2. to be in store for; be imminent.

   A pleasant surprise awaits her in today's mail.

3. Obsolete. to lie in wait for.

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verb (used without object)

• awaits,
  present (3rd person singular)
• awaited,
  past participle,  past
• awaiting
  present participle

1. to wait, as in expectation.

await British  

/ əˈweɪt /

verb

1. (tr) to wait for; expect

2. (tr) to be in store for

3. (intr) to wait, esp with expectation

4. obsolete (tr) to wait for in order to ambush

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Usage

What are other ways to say await?

To await something is to wait for it or look for it expectantly. How is await different from anticipate, hope, and expect? Find out on Thesaurus.com.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• awaiter
  noun

Inflected Forms

Participles

• awaiting
  present
• awaited
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• await
  simple
• awaits
  simple
• have awaited
  perfect
• has awaited
  perfect
• am awaiting
  progressive
• are awaiting
  progressive
• is awaiting
  progressive
• have been awaiting
  perfect progressive
• has been awaiting
  perfect progressive

Past

• awaited
  simple
• had awaited
  perfect
• was awaiting
  progressive
• were awaiting
  progressive
• had been awaiting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will await
  simple
• will have awaited
  perfect
• will be awaiting
  progressive
• will have been awaiting
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of await

First recorded in 1225–75; Middle English awaiten, from Old North French awaitier (Old French aguaitier ), equivalent to a- a- ⁵ + waitier wait

Explanation

To await is to anticipate or look forward to something. If you're hoping to get a letter from your pen pal, you'll eagerly await the mail carrier's arrival every afternoon. When you await a phone call, you might sit by the telephone at home or keep your cell phone in your hand. A prisoner who awaits trial is biding his time until his case comes before a judge. Sometimes await implies that some particular outcome is in store for someone: "A terrible surprise awaits her, when she gets home and sees that her dog ate the sofa."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

await awaits awaited awaiting

While the 2030 Games in the French Alps await, Frankel is minding the net for the Boston Fleet in the Professional Women’s Hockey League.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 2026

Oil prices edged down but remain in danger of spiking further as investors await a breakthrough in efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to tanker and cargo traffic.

From Barron's ● Aug. 28, 2026

—The U.S. dollar traded marginally higher as markets await the release of the July PCE data at 1230 GMT, the Federal Reserve’s preferred gauge of inflation.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026

Tate and his brother Tristan are currently being held in a Florida jail but are seeking release on bail while they await the outcome of extradition proceedings.

From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026

Singing, we leave Toledo, crossing the bridge across the Río Tajo, then going past the vineyards and olive groves, and take to the road, not knowing what dangers might await us.

From "Across So Many Seas" by Ruth Behar

The answer awaits in the Astors’ dressing room.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 22, 2026

The Indian captain of an alleged Russian shadow fleet oil vessel seized by British commandos has been made a "scapegoat", his wife told AFP, as her husband awaits trial.

From Barron's ● Aug. 21, 2026

So, a challenging job awaits for new man Matthias Jaissle.

From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026

Now, as the world awaits Google’s next Gemini model, the tech giant will need to show that it can maneuver the AI competition with more agility than it has in the past.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 15, 2026

He anxiously awaits their return, praying they will be overflowing with grains and smoked meats and leading calves and pigs to be slaughtered.

From "Lincoln's Last Days: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever" by Bill O'Reilly

"Now it is my turn," his 53-year-old son said, adding that a "major task" awaited him and that he wished to be "present and attentive" going forward.

From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2026

The DXY dollar index was unchanged as investors awaited the Kansas City Federal Reserve’s annual Jackson Hole meeting, starting Thursday.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026

They hit an intraday low of $104.83 on Aug. 3, as investors awaited the company’s first earnings report.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 10, 2026

Meanwhile, at a sports hall in Las Rozas de Madrid just outside the capital, the displaced sprawled on camp beds, held their heads in their hands and comforted pets as they awaited news.

From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026

That’s what we were told awaited us in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, as we prepared for the 2016 Olympic Games.

From "Proud" by Ibtihaj Muhammad

Between December and January, it hosted a large shipment of uranium concentrate, which was held up while awaiting export.

From Barron's ● Aug. 29, 2026

The dollar was steady, awaiting new impetus from Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh’s keynote speech at Jackson Hole later Friday.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026

For years, fans have been eagerly awaiting the sixth installment to the “Grand Theft Auto” franchise.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2026

Meanwhile, Wall Street is awaiting quarterly earnings from AI chip-maker Nvidia on Wednesday.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 23, 2026

Mami looks from one to the other as if she’s at a tennis match eagerly awaiting the outcome of the game.

From "Before We Were Free" by Julia Alvarez

Related Words

• anticipate
• attend
• count on
• stay